


Could a Robot Learn to Feel?

by Arcaydia



Category: Robot Series - Isaac Asimov
Genre: Book: The Robots of Dawn, F/M, Fastolfe's POV, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4849910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcaydia/pseuds/Arcaydia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dr. Han Fastolfe was no fool. He knew more about robots than anyone else on Aurora, or even on any of the other forty-nine spacer worlds. <br/>So how is it that these robots keep surprising him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Could a Robot Learn to Feel?

Could a Robot Learn to Feel?  
Dr. Han Fastolfe was no fool. He knew more about robots than anyone else on Aurora, or even on any of the other forty-nine spacer worlds. His knowledge, or rather, his lack of modesty concerning his knowledge, got him into quite a lot of trouble when his humaniform robot Jander Panell suffered a fatal case of roblock. Dr. Fastolfe had foolishly insisted that he was the only one capable of inflicting such a conflict that would cause a robot as advanced as Jander to go into a mental freeze out, and as a result a detective was sent for. He had been lucky that the Earthman Elijah Baley proved his innocence. 

What a curious creature that man was. A detective from Earth, frightened by the open skies and wide spaces of Aurora, and yet he stubbornly insisted on venturing out into the elements despite being rendered nearly useless by the slightest storm. Still, his efforts were admirable. It can’t have been easy to come all this way under the threat of being demoted if he were to fail. 

What most interested Dr. Fastolfe were Daneel’s responses to Baley. This was not the first time they worked a case together, but already they seemed to be very close, for a robot and a human, especially a human that had no so long ago cared very little for robots. Fastolfe spent his life working on the positronic brain and the three laws, so he could easily say that he knew everything about how a robot functioned. Daneel’s “friendship” with Elijah Baley was…unusual, to say the least. Of course, robots like Jander, Daneel, and even Giskard due to the upgrades Vasilia had given him, could form relationships with humans. However, Daneel’s relationship with Baley was more familiar than any other relationship between robots and humans he’d observed so far, with the possible exception of Vasilia and Giskard when Vasilia was younger. He noticed that Daneel comforted Baley by touching him - which most robots would not do unless given permission to do so - without any objection from the plainclothesman. 

Fastolfe knew that most people from Earth disliked all kinds of robots, which made it all the more fascinating that Elijah Baley depended on Daneel more so than any of the humans he came in contact with. Such a friendship between the two should have been highly unlikely, yet they considered each other friends despite only having worked together twice before. Fastolfe couldn’t resist the opportunity to study this curious relationship, and of course asked Daneel questions about it. He could ask Daneel the questions that he hadn’t been able to ask Jander. 

Gladia’s use of Jander hadn’t seemed unusual, not until Fastolfe found out that she considered him a husband. Robots as sex partners wasn’t unheard of, it wasn’t even uncommon. But to think of a robot as a spouse was a different matter. For one thing, robots were incapable of expressing genuine emotion, which is what most people get out of marriage. Fastolfe had considered Gladia’s history on Solaria and come to the conclusion that a robot as a partner is what she was most comfortable with. Growing up surrounded by robots, learning how to give them orders and be served by them at all times is the only way she knew how to live. He would have liked to ask Jander what he thought about the arrangement. Robots weren’t supposed to feel any opinion about the orders they’re given, but the relationship between Daneel and Elijah Baley had made the Doctor curious. There was certainly a friendship between them, but was it just the laws that made it seem so obvious?

When Dr. Fastolfe questioned him, Daneel informed him that he considered Elijah not only his partner, but his friend as well. He compared his reaction upon seeing his partner to the human feeling of pleasure, and mentioned that when interviewing Vasilia, Elijah Baley had warned her not to test the force of the love between them. That had not been expected at all. There was nothing between them to suggest a similar relationship to Gladia and Jander’s relationship, but the Earthman had confessed to loving Daneel.   
Dr. Fastolfe had of course ordered Daneel not to tell Baley about the questioning; he didn’t want the detective to think that he was studying him. After finishing with Daneel, Fastolfe then questioned Giskard. He’d noticed that Daneel spent time conferring with him, and decided it would be worthwhile to get his observations as well. At first, Giskard had been strangely reluctant to dispense information about his friend, but had eventually told Dr. Fastolfe that Daneel spoke most often of his Partner, Elijah Baley. More specifically, about his methods as a detective and even attempted to use said methods to come to his own conclusions. Giskard, like Daneel, was ordered not to mention the questioning to anyone. 

From what he had gathered, Dr. Fastolfe concluded that Daneel was capable of feeling friendship and something akin to pleasure and respect. He certainly valued Baley’s opinions, at least. Fastolfe had no way of knowing whether Jander shared such similarities, but Daneel would have to be enough for now. If it was possible for robots to develop the ability to feel, Daneel would only be the first. Having shared his research with Amadiro, Dr. Fastolfe knew it would only be a matter of time before there were more humaniform robots. With more people studying the positronic brain, who knows what would be discovered of its capabilities. It was entirely possible that they had barely scratched the surface of the positronic brain. Whatever the case, the future looked bright.


End file.
